Better Late Learning Than Haste Beginning.docVIP

Better Late Learning Than Haste Beginning 　　Abstract：The general provision of English course in China’s primary schools， advocated partly on the basis of misapprehension of the critical period hypothesis， can be unjustified by the lower efficiency of primary school students and lower qualification of primary school English teachers compared with their counterparts in middle schools respectively. 　　Key words：primary schools；English course；feasibility 　　中图分类号：H319 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1673-8500（2013）02-0126-02 　　1.Introduction to the social background 　　After the implement of opening up and reform policy and Chinas entrance into the WTO， there is an urgent need for English talents. To open to the world with width and depth and keep up with the international trend， mastering English has become quite crucial. In July 2000， China’s Ministry of Education unveiled English curriculum standard （experiment draft）， which stipulates that From the year of 2001， English course must be offered from grade three in qualified primary schools nationwide. Primary schools across the country quickly responded to the call and set up English course hastily. Even bilingual kindergartens has emerged as the times require， thus the age of English learners is younger and younger accordingly. 　　The question “should English course be offered in primary schools in China” is so controversial that has triggered hot discussion in education field. Taking theoretical bases and practical feasibility of teaching English to primary school students from grade three into account， it is questionable that offering English course in primary schools will live up to the expectation of the curriculum planners. 　　2. Misapprehension of critical period hypothesis 　　Proposed by Lenneberg （1967）， critical period hypothesis states that there is a period when language acquisition can take place naturally and effortlessly， but after a certain age the brain is no longer able to process language input that way. 　　Some ev